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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26562337">Breaking Even</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acidwing/pseuds/Acidwing'>Acidwing</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Injury, Everybody Lives, Family Feels, Fix-It, Gen, Identity Reveal, almost, everybody we care about lives</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 09:23:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,832</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26562337</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acidwing/pseuds/Acidwing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Miles finds out that his uncle is the Prowler early: before the collider, before the spider bite even. This changes everything.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aaron Davis &amp; Miles Morales</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>337</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23439610">refract, reform</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/puppyblue/pseuds/puppyblue">puppyblue</a>.
        </li>

    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was official: the universe did hate him, Miles thought morosely.</p>
<p>He rubbed the back of his hand that had been bitten by the weird-looking spider that made itself a home in a dark corner of his uncle’s apartment. The terror and confusion he felt after falling out the window and then walking across the wall didn’t disappear, but they diminished enough to allow misery to set in.</p>
<p>This just wasn’t his day. Week. <em>Year</em>.</p>
<p>His shoulders slumped even further as Miles slowly dragged his feet from the Visions Academy (the place where he was a friendless loser barely keeping himself from cracking under pressure) to his uncle’s home. He clambered up the fire escape, resolutely not thinking about the fact he probably no longer even needed stairs or ladders, and pulled the window up.</p>
<p>His uncle wasn’t there, which Miles had expected. He had tried to call Uncle Aaron when he ran away from the academy, but all he got was one of those ‘out-of-town’ voicemails that meant his uncle was working.</p>
<p>Well, ‘working’.</p>
<p>Almost against his will, his gaze was drawn to an unremarkable patch of the floor. It had been scrubbed clean weeks ago but Miles could still remember the dark shape lying there in a puddle of blood.</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <em>Miles didn’t want to go to the Visions Academy. Going to some rich kid school and leaving his friends behind? Ugh.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>But he didn’t want to disappoint his parents either, even if the more they pushed at him, the more annoyed and resistant he became. Miles was almost ready to cave in and accept, but he still wanted a second opinion.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>So he went to see Uncle Aaron.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Except he probably should’ve called first because it looked like Uncle Aaron wasn’t home.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Miles looked up at the dark windows of the familiar apartment and sighed heavily. He should probably go back home, but he had just got into an argument with his dad and he didn’t want to return when the tempers were still high.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>…Well, Uncle Aaron wouldn’t mind if Miles spent the night at his place, would he? It certainly wouldn’t be the first time Miles had crashed on his couch.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Decision made, Miles climbed up the metal ladder. The window was open and he peered curiously inside. Was his uncle home after all?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Uncle Aaron?” Miles called, keeping his voice soft in case his uncle was already asleep. “Are you here?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>There was no answer.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Miles scrambled over the windowsill and nearly fell into the potted plant standing in the corner.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Stupid plant,” Miles grumbled. He should probably move it to avoid tripping over it again.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Then he took one good look inside the apartment and all thoughts fled from his mind.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Uncle Aaron!” Miles screamed and rushed towards the dark figure lying limply on the floor. Was he hurt? Unconscious?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>A faint metallic smell of blood made his heartbeat skyrocket. Miles dropped to his knees and reached out to shake him awake, “Uncle A-”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>The words stuck in his throat when a clawed metal gauntlet grabbed his outstretched hand in a bruising grip.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Miles stared into the glowing white eyes of the masked villain he recognized as the Prowler (not the most notorious of Spiderman’s foes but still rather infamous) and felt his mind fill with static.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He… didn’t want to think. Didn’t want to put the pieces together.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>The claws loosened and slid off, hitting the floor with a too-loud clatter.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“…Miles?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Hearing his own name in that rumbling, distorted voice felt like a knife through the heart.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Uncle Aaron…”</em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>Miles sighed heavily and forcefully shook off the memories. He didn’t like dwelling on that night but it kept drifting to the forefront of his mind. It probably wasn’t the <em>worst</em> way to find out that his uncle was a criminal of the masked variety but it was still nowhere near <em>good</em>.</p>
<p>Then again, <em>was</em> there a good way to learn something like this? Miles highly doubted that.</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <em>After helping Uncle Aaron stitch a ragged cut under his ribs that he claimed looked worse than it really was, Miles had no idea what to do with himself.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He didn’t want to talk, could barely look at his uncle, the crushing weight of something that felt like betrayal sitting cold and heavy in his chest. He couldn’t go home and face his parents (it felt like they would know, take one look at him and somehow realize what happened). He couldn’t go to sleep and pretend that everything was fine.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>And he couldn’t just stand there and let his thoughts spiral into endless misery, so Miles grabbed a wet rag and started to clean.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He kept his mind carefully blank as he wiped congealed blood from the floor. Some of it had already dried, forcing Miles to scrub it off. He settled into a mindless rhythm that was only broken by his uncle’s voice.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I think it’s already clean, Miles.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>It felt like waking up and Miles suddenly became aware of the dull ache in his hands. How long had he been kneeling there, scrubbing the same patch of the floor over and over and over again?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Miles slowly stood up and felt himself shake a little. His head was full of static, barely formed thoughts drifting beneath the surface like sharks in the ocean and with just as many teeth. Questions, accusations… So many things he wanted to say but was afraid to give a voice to.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He stumbled towards the couch where his uncle was lying and collapsed on the floor between the scattered pieces of the Prowler’s gear. He tugged one of the clawed gauntlets closer and stared blankly at the crusted blood covering its metal surface.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Miles…”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He felt Uncle Aaron rest a hand on top of his head and for one terrible moment Miles didn’t know if he wanted to lean in or jerk away.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“What else have you been hiding?” he whispered. “How many things did you lie to me about?” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I love you, Miles. I never lied about that.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Miles felt his eyes burn and finally leaned into the touch. “…I love you too.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>That wasn’t a lie either.</em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>Since then, things between them stayed tense and awkward. Miles wasn’t going to call the cops on his family but he couldn’t just pretend that nothing had changed.</p>
<p>He still visited Uncle Aaron, probably even more often than before, but it was no longer to ask for advice or just to hang out. With the shadow of the Prowler hovering above them, there was nothing else Miles could talk about.</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <em>“Why?! Why don’t you just quit?!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“It’s not that easy, Miles,” Uncle Aaron said, his voice quiet and filled with guilt. “I’ve tried to stop before but I’m in too deep now.”</em>
</p>
<p><em>Miles slammed his hands on the table, “That’s just an excuse! ‘Cause it sounds like you either don’t </em>want<em> to quit or you’re just giving up! And I’m not gonna support that!”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>He hated the look Uncle Aaron gave him in return. ‘Silly kid, the world doesn’t work like this.’</em>
</p>
<p><em>“I can’t quit, Miles. </em>I can’t<em>. The Kingpin knows who I am. If I refuse him, especially now… I can’t let him take it out on you. Or on Jeff and Rio.”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>“So… that’s it? You’re just gonna keep doing his dirty work for the rest of your life?!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“…I’m sorry, Miles. I’ll try, but that’s all I can promise.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Miles felt disappointment settle over his shoulders like a heavy weight. He didn’t know how long he would be able to keep doing this if his uncle refused to meet him in the middle.</em>
</p>
<p><em>He sighed heavily and walked towards the window. If he wanted to get back to Visions before the curfew, he should probably leave. (And it wasn’t like there was any point in staying when his words clearly weren’t enough. When </em>he<em> wasn’t enough.)</em></p>
<p>
  <em>Miles pulled the window open – and felt pinpricks of pain at the back of his hand. He jerked his hand away with an annoyed hiss and swatted the spider that bit him. He carelessly threw the dead spider outside and headed back towards Visions.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He didn’t give it a second thought until the next day when he grew half a foot and started to stick to everything he touched.</em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>Miles huddled miserably on the couch. At this point he wasn’t even surprised that the spider that bit him wasn’t a normal one.</p>
<p>He supposed he should probably go outside and look for it but he didn’t think he’d be able to find one tiny spider in a barely-lit alley. And he felt so tired…</p>
<p>Miles could feel his eyes starting to close. Despite everything he now knew about his uncle, he still felt safe here.</p>
<p>He just wanted to rest. The spider could wait until morning.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The gigantic collider room was utterly quiet. There were no more explosions, no rumble of machinery, no grating buzz of dimensions being torn apart… Only silence.</p><p>That was good. Peter didn’t have it in him to go another round.</p><p>He carefully breathed in the dusty air, trying not to jostle his either cracked or broken ribs. He couldn’t taste any blood, which hopefully meant that his lungs weren’t damaged. Small mercies.</p><p>Now if only he could get up…</p><p>Peter looked at the stone rubble that trapped his left arm at an angle that meant nothing good (the utter numbness he felt below the elbow was pretty bad too). Then he stared at the piece of rebar that went through his right shoulder. The steady trickle of blood was barely visible on the red fabric of his costume but Peter could smell its copper scent.</p><p>No matter. He’d had worse injuries. He could get free.</p><p>He had to.</p><p>Before anyone found him.</p><p>Peter stared at his right hand lying limply at his side and willed it to move. He had to web up his ribs, remove the rubble crushing his left arm, and take out the damn rebar that had him pinned to the ground.</p><p>His fingers twitched slightly.</p><p>Peter briefly closed his eyes and sucked in another painful breath. He tried to move once again. His fingertips had <em>almost</em> reached the trigger of his web-shooter before an electric shock of pain from his pierced shoulder left him trembling.</p><p>And then a different kind of shiver spread through his body.</p><p>His spider-sense.</p><p>Peter raised his head and felt his heart sink at the sight of the dark shape lit by dim purple glow crouching on a mountain of debris above him.</p><p>The Prowler.</p><p>Peter watched with a detached sort of calm as the Prowler jumped down and landed right in front of him. Sharp mechanical claws flexed with a familiar high-pitched whine.</p><p>So this was it.</p><p>He had always known that this was a dangerous job and he never expected to live long enough to grow old. He just… didn’t think it would be so soon.</p><p>‘Sorry, MJ. Aunt May,’ Peter thought as the Prowler raised those claws above him and sharply brought them down.</p>
<hr/><p>The universe was laughing at him. It had to be, Aaron thought sourly.</p><p>All those years of fighting Spiderman and it was <em>this </em>day that he finally had the hero at his mercy.</p><p>The day when he was finally going to quit the villain gig for good.</p><p>Miles had been pushing at him to quit ever since he had found out, but Aaron couldn’t risk going against the Kingpin. Except now the Kingpin was <em>dead</em>, caught in the explosion inside his own machine, and Aaron could finally breathe easily. All he needed to do now was to get his claws on some of Kingpin’s illegal funds and he was set for a cushy retirement.</p><p>Except first he had to decide what to do with Spiderman.</p><p>Aaron flexed his claws, increasing their power output. Spiderman had been a thorn in his side for a very, very long time and he would’ve liked nothing more than to rip his throat open. But if he did that, he would never be able to look his nephew in the eye, so with a tired sigh Aaron buried his claws in the massive chunk of concrete that kept Spiderman trapped and crushed it into pieces.</p><p>Spiderman let out a noise that could’ve been either pain or confusion, while Aaron examined the damage to his arm. It was bent at a wrong angle but the bones didn’t look broken, so Aaron wrapped his hands around Spiderman’s shoulder and forearm and none too gently set his dislocated elbow.</p><p>Spiderman’s strangled cry of pain brought a certain degree of dark satisfaction. Not so smug and quippy now, huh?</p><p>Next he turned his attention to the bloodied metal bar sticking out of his right shoulder. Aaron pressed his hands above and beneath it, feeling out the angle. It seemed to have gone clean through, so Aaron simply wrenched Spiderman’s shoulder straight up.</p><p>A fresh wave of blood poured over his claws and Spiderman choked on another scream.</p><p>Aaron idly wondered how much blood loss his healing factor could deal with. More than a regular human, probably, but it did look like that piece of metal had nicked something major.</p><p>…Well, no point in sparing his life if Spiderman was going to just bleed out.</p><p>Aaron pulled his cape in front of him and raked his claws over the fabric, tearing it into long, uneven strips. It was hardly the first time he had used the thing for makeshift bandages, though usually he had patched up <em>himself</em>, not his enemy.</p><p><em>Former</em> enemy now, he supposed.</p>
<hr/><p>He was in some kind of mirror universe, like those in <em>Star Quest</em>, Peter thought with a touch of delirious hysteria. The collider must’ve sent him to another dimension. Because why else would one of his enemies not just refuse the chance to kill him but actually patch him up?</p><p>He watched the Prowler bandage his bleeding shoulder with his own cape, noting with faint surprise that those claws of his were a lot more dexterous than they seemed. His spider-sense was a constant prickle at the back of his neck but it didn’t flare up once. Peter couldn’t quite stifle a gasp of pain when the Prowler brushed his ribs (yeah, those definitely felt broken). The villain in question just tore off another chunk of his cape and quickly wrapped it around his chest. Useful things, capes.</p><p>Peter took a slightly less painful breath and tried to move his limbs again. His left arm was a leaden weight of pulsating pain (which, he hoped, at least meant no nerve damage) but he could shift his right hand a little.</p><p>Considering that the Prowler could go toe-to-toe with him even when Peter wasn’t about to keel over, he didn’t see a point in further struggle. Even if he was taken prisoner, it would still give him some much-needed time for his healing factor to kick in. He just needed to bide his time and wait for an opportunity to escape. (Wow, it seemed like MJ’s constant rants about picking his battles had finally sunk in.)</p><p>Peter didn’t resist when the Prowler lifted him up and rushed away from the demolished room, though he had to admit that being carried bridal style by one of his villains was a new experience.</p><p>This had to be the strangest kidnapping he had ever been subjected to.</p>
<hr/><p>As he raced through the dark tunnels away from the ruined collider, Aaron could feel Spiderman staring at him.</p><p>He could <em>see</em> Spiderman staring at him.</p><p>One of the lenses of his mask had been broken, revealing part of his face. Not enough to identify him – ‘white and blue-eyed’ wasn’t much to go on – except now Aaron wanted to see <em>more</em>. And it wasn’t like he would ever get an opportunity like this again, so once they were outside, Aaron landed on a nearest rooftop, put Spiderman down, and ripped off his mask.</p><p>Beneath it was someone he had never seen before. Just some average twenty-something blond guy.</p><p>A complete nobody.</p><p>“Hey! At least buy me a drink first if you wanna get handsy!” Spiderman complained with a faint tremble in his voice.</p><p>…And the irritating quips were back. Aaron scoffed inwardly and threw the mask back at him.</p><p>Spiderman didn’t put it back on. His expression grew serious, “Why didn’t you kill me?”</p><p>Why indeed.</p><p>Because he had already quit. Because there was no point in further bloodshed.</p><p>Because he didn’t want to disappoint Miles.</p><p>“You owe me a favor now,” Aaron said instead, because retired or not, having Spiderman in his debt could still be useful.</p><p>Spiderman narrowed his eyes, “There are lines I won’t cross.”</p><p>Aaron figured as much. Not like he cared: he was out of this game. For good.</p><p>“When I need that favor, I’ll find you,” Aaron said and vaulted over the edge of the roof, already pushing this encounter to the back of his mind.</p><p>Right now, all he wanted to do was to get back home and call Miles to tell him the good news.</p>
<hr/><p>Peter watched the Prowler leap off the building and run across the rooftops. Only when he had completely disappeared from sight did Peter allow himself a small sigh of relief.</p><p>He could hear sirens below, emergency vehicles swarming the site of the explosion. The collider had caused a great deal of damage to the street above it, attracting a lot of attention. It was a good thing that Peter was up here: in the state he was in, he doubted that his secret identity would’ve survived an encounter with the police who didn’t like him all that much.</p><p>Though it wasn’t as if it had survived the encounter with the Prowler.</p><p>Peter looked at the strips of dark purple fabric wrapped around him. He had no idea what to think about the Prowler’s sudden change of heart and being indebted to him with his identity partially exposed was just plain unnerving, but at the same time…</p><p>He was still alive, wasn’t he? He could figure out the rest along the way.</p>
<hr/><p>The sound of a window being opened jolted Miles out of his sleep. He sat up on the couch and blearily looked at his uncle.</p><p>“Miles? What are you doing here?” Uncle Aaron asked, stepping inside his apartment.</p><p>The mechanical distortion couldn’t quite hide the exhaustion in his voice. He reeked of smoke and when he flicked the lights on, Miles could see that he was also covered in dust and missing most of his cape.</p><p>“What have <em>you</em> been doing?” Miles asked instead of answering the question. Then he froze, noticing the dark, wet surface of his claws. “Is- is that <em>blood</em>?”</p><p>Uncle Aaron took off his mask with a wry smile, “It is. But believe it or not, this is the exact <em>opposite</em> of what you’re thinking.”</p><p>“What happened?!”</p><p>“Everything is fine, Miles, I swear. Better than fine: from this day on, the Prowler is officially retired.”</p><p>Miles looked at him with wide eyes, “You are? Really?!”</p><p>“I gave you a promise, didn’t I?”</p><p>In response, Miles just tackled his uncle into a hug, almost throwing them both on the floor.</p><p>And in that moment he no longer cared about strange spiders and even stranger powers. As long as he had his family at his side, Miles could deal with anything.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Enhanced healing or not, Peter still needed some time to recover. MJ had put her foot down and refused to let him out of the house until he had healed fully. For once, Peter wasn’t going to protest (it had been a very close call) but he was fine now and could finally don the mask again.</p><p>Peter swung through the city in an aimless pattern looking for trouble to help with, when trouble found <em>him</em> instead.</p><p>“Hey there, Prowler. Didn’t expect to see you so soon,” Peter called, looking warily at the villain who had crossed his path only to land on a nearby roof and wait for him to approach. “I see you’ve got a new cape already? Man, you <em>gotta</em> tell me the name of your tailor.”</p><p>Peter kept a healthy distance between them: despite (or maybe <em>because of</em>) their incredibly odd last encounter, he wasn’t exactly looking for a fight.</p><p>“I’m collecting that favor,” the Prowler said brusquely. “Follow me.”</p><p>He rushed away, leaping from building to building in giant jumps.</p><p>“Still rude, I see,” Peter commented and followed after him.</p><p>He had no idea what the Prowler wanted from him, but his spider-sense had been mostly quiet, so Peter was fairly sure he wasn’t about to walk into a trap. And it wouldn’t have made sense anyway: if he wanted to, the Prowler could’ve easily killed or captured him at the collider instead of helping him and waiting until he was back at full strength.</p><p>No, most likely, the Prowler needed his skills.</p><p>Peter frowned slightly. Was there some kind of a turf war, now that the Kingpin was gone? Or maybe he was going to be invited to a heist? Because that would actually be pretty cool. Wrong, but cool.</p><p>Finally, the Prowler landed on a rooftop that didn’t look any different from the others but instead of jumping off again, he headed towards the stairs and disappeared behind the door.</p><p>Before Peter could follow, the door opened again and the Prowler walked back out.</p><p>Dragging a kid with him.</p><p>His spider-sense flared up and Peter dropped into a fighting stance. To hell with debts and favors! He wasn’t going to just stand there and allow the Prowler to drag some innocent kid into whatever the hell he was plotting!</p><p>A kid who looked barely into his teens. A kid who was clearly a Spiderman fan, judging by the terrible costume several sizes too small he was wearing.</p><p>…A kid who seemed completely unbothered by the Prowler standing right behind him or the sharp claws clasped over his shoulders.</p><p>“Oh my god, you <em>actually</em> brought Spiderman here?!” the kid shrieked, bouncing on his feet.</p><p>The Prowler pressed down on his shoulders, which stopped the bouncing but left the kid practically vibrating in place with jittery energy that was all excitement without a shred of fear.</p><p>“The kid has spider-powers, same as you,” the Prowler said. “I want you to teach him.”</p><p>And that sounded all kinds of ridiculous, except Peter could <em>feel</em> that kid and he realized now that it wasn’t <em>danger</em> his spider-sense was warning him about.</p><p>“…So you’re like me, huh?” Peter whispered, slightly relaxing his tense crouch.</p><p>The kid nodded, “I was bitten by this weird spider and the next day I was sticking to everything: walls, pigeons… Someone’s hair.” He cringed, “…I think that girl hates me now.”</p><p>Peter let out a startled laugh, “Ah, the awkwardness of suddenly gaining superpowers… Join the club, pal.” He gave the Prowler a curious look, “And how does tall, dark, and growly fit into this?”</p><p>“None of your business!” the Prowler barked, taking one hand off the kid’s shoulder to bare his claws. “You owe me one, so pay up!”</p><p>“And you want to use that favor on spider-lessons?” Peter asked incredulously.</p><p>The Prowler nodded sharply, “Yes. Deal?”</p><p>“No deal!” the kid snapped.</p><p>The Prowler jerked and looked down at him, “Mi- Kid, what are you-”</p><p>The kid turned around and glared at him, “No. Deal. I can figure out these powers on my own. I’m not wasting <em>a favor from Spiderman</em> on this!”</p><p>Now that was… an interesting development. So aside from being comfortable enough around the Prowler to snap at him like this (Peter kept a careful watch but it didn’t look like the Prowler was going to get violent in retaliation), the kid also had his own agenda?</p><p>“And what would <em>you</em> use it for?” Peter asked curiously.</p><p>The kid turned to look at him and <em>oh</em>, there was steel in those eyes. “A clean slate for the Prowler. Anything he did in the past is gonna <em>stay</em> in the past. You don’t attack him for it and you don’t try to bring him in.”</p><p>“Why would you-” the Prowler started to ask.</p><p>“Well, you’re not gonna just stay retired, are you?” the kid challenged.</p><p>“‘Course not,” the Prowler scoffed. “If you wanna use those powers and be a hero, I won’t let you do this alone.”</p><p>…Peter could practically feel his brain make a record-scratch noise. He had assumed that the Prowler wanted the new spider to continue the family business (them being related was the only thing Peter could think of that made the current situation make any sense). Peter had planned to intersperse the spider-lessons with as many ‘don’t do crime’ PSAs as he could, except, apparently, the kid already wanted to go into heroics.</p><p>And the Prowler was somehow okay with this? Even wanted to help him?! (Also, what was that bit about retirement?)</p><p>“See? This is more important,” the kid said and turned back to Peter. “So, deal?”</p><p>Peter looked between the kid and the villain standing behind him. Call him naïve, but there was one thing that he had always believed in: that people could change.</p><p>That everyone deserved a second chance.</p><p>“On two conditions,” he finally said. “One: this only concerns the <em>past</em>.” He glared at the Prowler, “You try to hurt anyone or break the law again – and we’re back to being enemies.”</p><p>The Prowler stayed silent but the kid nodded, “That’s fair. What’s the second one?”</p><p>Peter smiled and spread his arms, “Well, I can’t just let a new spider go untrained, can I? You’re still getting those lessons, kid.”</p><p>Judging by the excited shriek and the new round of bouncing, the kid was fully onboard with the new terms.</p><p>The Prowler, on the other hand, looked much warier. He wrapped his arms around the kid in a move that looked suspiciously like a hug and gave Peter a narrow-eyed look. “What’s in it for you?”</p><p>The kid elbowed him slightly and hissed, “Just take the deal already!”</p><p>Peter only shrugged, “Like I said: can’t let the kid fumble alone if I can help. Also, gotta balance out <em>your</em> influence somehow.”</p><p>The Prowler barked out a wordless laugh and relaxed his tense shoulders.</p><p>Peter didn’t feel like puzzling out what he had found so amusing. Instead, he sauntered towards the two with a carefully calculated nonchalance, “So! Do we have a deal?”</p><p>The kid shook his offered hand, “Deal.”</p><p>The Prowler clasped his claws over their joined hands, “Deal.”</p>
<hr/><p>Miles could barely contain another excited shriek. He was shaking Spiderman’s hand! This was amazing!</p><p>And then his excitement turned to mortification when he <em>couldn’t let go</em>. Miles felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment. Oh no, not again!</p><p>“I’m guessing, it’s already time for the first lesson, huh?” Spiderman asked with a look at their stuck together hands. The amusement in his voice made Miles wish for the earth to swallow him.</p><p>“I can do this!” Miles hurried to assure.</p><p>After ripping off the plaster on the ceiling of Uncle Aaron’s apartment, breaking a lamp, getting his feet stuck to a table, and doing <em>something</em> to the TV that left it a smoking mess, he had started to figure out these powers a little. It seemed like the more he freaked out, the more his powers acted up, so all he needed to do was to calm down.</p><p>Miles drew a long breath and slowly exhaled. He had already managed to unstick without causing too much destruction a couple of times. He could do this.</p><p>He shifted his arm and flexed his fingers, trying to loosen his muscles the way he would after spending too much time drawing. (And oh, the places he could reach now with these powers… There was no way his dad would ever find his stickers now!) Spiderman’s costume remained stubbornly clinging to his skin, but Miles didn’t let it discourage him. He kept shifting his fingers, until bit by bit the fabric came off.</p><p>With a loud sigh of relief, Miles dropped his now free hand.</p><p>“Nice one, kid,” Spiderman said with a smile in his voice. “Pretty good for a newbie.”</p><p>Miles preened under the praise and felt wild excitement rise in his chest, “Wanna see what else I can do?”</p><p>He nudged at Uncle Aaron’s arm that was still wrapped around him in a half-hug. Uncle Aaron let him go with an amused huff and Miles ran towards the edge of the roof. Even if he could still barely control those powers, the yawning chasm in front of him brought no fear. Not when he knew that Uncle Aaron was following right behind him, ready to catch him if he stumbled.</p><p>With laughter on his lips and happiness in his heart, Miles kicked off the edge and soared into the sky.</p>
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